Chapter Eleven

 

Sara woke to a blinding light in a bed where she hadn’t fallen asleep.  How in the hell did I get back to the bedroom?  Clatter in the kitchen caught her attention and she decided to forget about how she got into the bedroom.  Jared probably carried me in.  When she made it to the kitchen, Melanie was standing up from crouching behind the countertop and Jared was sitting where he’d been last night.

            “Good morning, sunshine.”  Mel seemed happy, or amused.

            “Morning, I guess.”

            “Grumpy?”

            “A tad, who got me back in the bed and when?”

            Jared raised his hand.  “I did, and around 8:00 this morning.  Mel woke me up, looking rather amused at the fact that we’d passed out with me cradling you in my lap.”  He smirked and reddened just a tiny bit.

            “Oh, wonderful.”  Sara turned to Mel.  “Sorry I didn’t sleep with you last night.”

            She held up a hand, “It’s fine, I enjoyed hogging the covers, besides it was oh-so-cute seeing you two cuddled asleep on the couch,” she laughed.

            “Shush you.  Ugh, it’s that late?  Is there any caffeine around here?”  Sara had turned to Josh.

            “Yeah, went out and bought cappuccinos.  Yours is right there,” he pointed to the bar, “French Vanilla.  Just how you like it.”

            “Thanks, hon.”

            “No problem, but you should be thanking Mel, she went and got them.”

Sara walked over and hugged her and kissed her cheek.  Mel hugged back.

“You’re welcome.”

            Pulling back, she turned and went to sit on the couch next to Jared.  Instead, she ended up plopping on the couch with her head in his lap and the rest of her stretched across the couch, it must have enticed Mel, because she came over and laid on top of Sara.

            “Boo.”

            “Boo yourself.”

            “Mhm, I think I will.”  Mel half stuck her tongue out, then smiled at Sara, and she smiled back.

            “Stick your tongue out at me again and see what happens.”  Sara warned, promiscuously.

            “Oh I’m so scared.”  Mel said and, unfailingly, stuck her tongue back out.

            Sara bit it.

            “You two are freakin’ weird, but hot and kinky.  Did you know that?”

            Sara opened her mouth to say something to that but Mel cut in with “yeah well, Jared, you’re not so normal yourself, my dear, and you’ve never complained.”

“I don’t know what you mean.  I’m as normal as they come and I wasn’t complaining.” 

They all laughed at that, when the laughing and giggling settled, it was eerily quiet.  After several moments Sara looked at Jared upside down and half backwards, he looked down at her, and they both looked at Mel, who returned the stare.  The silence was thick enough to taste, they were all thinking one thing, “Now what do we do?”

Sara let out a long, shuddering sigh and Jared squeezed her shoulders while Melanie took her hand.

“I don’t know what to do about this.  I hate not being able to go to my own damn house.  I mean, really, what’s the worst he could do?”

“Sara, it’s not so bad, we can stay here for a couple days, well, I mean if it’s okay with Jared.” she looked up at him with something like urgency, but not, glittering in her eyes.  Was she scared?

“Sure you can, I mean, eventually I want my damn bed back to sleep in, but you can stay for a few more days.  I enjoy the company.”

Sara just sat there thinking while they looked at her and reassured her that she’d be welcome to stay here.  Why do I feel like I’m taking advantage of him, I mean really, I was dating him for god’s sake.  I shouldn’t feel this way, and I do, I don’t know anymore.

“I...  I just don’t know yet.”

“How hard is it to say yes?  You’re not taking advantage of me Sara, my god, I love having you stay with me.  Mel too, I enjoy your company.  How about this, since it’s so hard for you to agree, I’m doing it for you.  You’re staying, end of discussion.  I don’t want to hear one more thing about it, damnit.”  Jared was leaving her no options, having no options was a bad thing.

“Fine, f**k.”  She felt defeated, and she was.

“Good.”  Sara got out of Jared’s lap to show him that, fine she’d stay, but she wasn’t happy about it.  Just to take it a step further, she leaned down to Mel and kissed her fully, tongue probing, to make him jealous, then walked away from both of them, down the hall.

She climbed into his bed and rolled over on something solid.  What in the hell was that?  She pulled a spiral notebook out from under her as Mel walked in.  When she saw it, she sped up a little and snatched it from Sara, hiding it behind her.

“What the hell was that?”

“Nothing.”

“Is that what you’ve been writing or something?  I know you write.  I just didn’t know you had your notebook.”

“Yeah, what’d you think?  That Jared was writing?  Hah, that’s funny.  He doesn’t seem like the type of guy to be sensitive enough to sit down and write poetry or whatever.”

“True, but actually I was wondering when you brought that spiral over, I mean, you didn’t have it last night.  At least I didn’t notice it, and I think I would have considering I was hanging all over you most of the night.”  Sara smiled a little.

“Yeah, true.  Actually I grabbed it this morning when you were asleep and I was getting cappuccinos.”

“S**t, what time is it?”  Sara rolled over to look at the clock.  It was 12:17, “Holy s**t, I slept late.  You should have woken me up.”

“Yeah right, you needed the sleep.  To answer your question, yes, I have been writing, I finished it up this morning.”

“Can I read pleeeeease?” she pouted the best she could.

“Don’t pout, you know it works.”  Mel handed over the book.

“What’s it called?”

“I don’t know yet.  It’s just a story, doesn’t really need a name, it’s not like it’ll ever go to get published.  I don’t want to publish it.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see about that.”  She flipped through to the first page.

“I’m going to go get a shower while you read, babe.  I’ll be back.”

Sara nodded; she was already engrossed in reading.  Truthfully, Melanie was an excellent writer.  Sara herself had never been very good with it.

As she brushes her shining hair of ebony, she looks into the mirror over her vanity.  Everything is in place and the way it’s supposed to be.  She’s about to go out and meet her boyfriend for dinner, he has something special for her and won’t tell her what.  Hoping it’s a proposal she finishes her make up, with lips colored blood red, and smiles in the mirror.  They’ve been going out for three years and had decided that the potential for marriage was there.  He was twenty-one and she was nineteen, they loved each other as much as anyone could.

She imagined being with her love forever, it made her feel warm and comforted.  She knew he was the one, no doubt about it.  They’d already had this discussion several times before.  It was true love, meant to be.  Everyone said they were a beautiful couple and they’d have beautiful children.  She wanted kids and he did too, but not too soon, they had everything figured out.

Seeing herself on her wedding day, she smiled.  Her parents would be there, and his parents too.  She’d kiss her dad on the cheek and he’d shake her sweetie’s hand, and they’d hug her mom while she cried uncontrollably.  He’d get a hug from his dad, and she’d get a kiss, they’d both receive a kiss from his mom while she tried to calm her mother down.  Everyone would be happy to be at the wedding in that little chapel, everyone all dressed up for her big day.

After the ceremony, they’d all go out to the lake for the reception.  There’d be a little party on the beach and it’d be nice weather, as they’d planned for a summer wedding.  She’d greet everyone and he’d talk with the family about future plans.  Everything would be perfect.

Content with her appearance, she gracefully walked out of her room and downstairs.  She saw her mother on the couch, she was crying.  She should have been happy.  Tonight was the big night after all.  They were going to find out if she was going to be a bride.  Calling her mother, she continued down the steps, but her mom didn’t answer, she didn’t seem to be hearing her.  She had to get all the way to her and put her hand on her shoulder just to get her attention.  Turned to her, eyes wide, her mom didn’t know what to say to her daughter and couldn’t bear to be touched.  She was so confused it was overwhelming, her mom not wanting to feel her touch, not knowing what to say.  She wished she knew what was going on.  Her mom just gaped at her, searching for words.  She looked horrid.  What had happened?  The phone rang and her mom grabbed a handful of her dress and pulled her close, cradling her.  It all hit her like a cold slap in the face, she remembered.

Her legs gave out and she started crying, her body seemed that it didn’t want to work.  The shock was too much.  There’d been a bad accident.  Today wasn’t even the right day for the date.  That dreadful day had already passed.  She looked as if she was reliving a nightmare.  Terror paled her complexion and made it frightful to look at, her hand convulsed around her mothers as she violently sobbed.  She remembered it all.

Her lover was driving them to her house, they’d already had dinner, and he’d proposed.  She was so happy.  When they got home, they were going to open a bottle of champagne and tell her parents.  They’d be delighted.  The only problem was they never made it home.  A truck had swerved out of the way of a dog that ran across the street, and when he saw them coming, it was too late.  He plowed into the front of the little car her fiancé had driven, but he didn’t stop there, he ended up on top of the front end.  Her beloved had tried to get out of the way, but it happened too quickly, all he had time for was to say he loved her and to hear her reply.

She remembered the bright lights and loud sirens.  She remembered wanting everyone to go away and to leave her with him.  She was holding his hand willing him to live and she kept whispering to him that she loved him.  She was desperate to have him, but he was already gone.  Everything went black as the firefighters ripped the roof off of the car and started to get her out.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed, bandages everywhere covering stitches where glass had ripped her frail skin apart.  Her mother was next to the bed in a chair from the great room, she was sobbing, but the girl didn’t know why.  She squeezed her mother’s hand to gain her attention, but she didn’t know what she was supposed to say.  The only thing her mom could utter was that she was sorry, so sorry.  Her dad was the one that broke the news.  The girl broke down.  She refused, this couldn’t have happened, everything was so perfect.

She found herself in the living room repeating her denial.  She looked at her arms for proof that she hadn’t been in an accident.  There was none.  Her arms were covered in bandages and cuts and scrapes.  She sank to the floor and beat it with her fists, as if it’d actually make a difference.  Gradually, she entered a hazy state of mind from the pain she was causing and the pain she was enhancing.  She couldn’t focus, she didn’t want to focus, and as much as she didn’t want to, she had to remember.  She couldn’t stop her memory.  The memory of a one-time love being lost, never again to see.  The girl with ebony hair, paled, with red lips, realized her delusion, and drowned in it.

Sara looked up to find Mel wrapped up snug in a towel looking down at her.

“Well, how was it?”

“It was great, honey, I’m serious, and don’t deny it.  You always criticize yourself and your work.  I know it’s not true, so just stop before you say anything.”

Mel gaped at her for a second then said, “Well, well, yes master,” and started pulling on her clothes from last night.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so…  Crude.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I’m just…  Oh, I don’t know.”  Turning away from Mel, she carefully closed the spiral and laid it on the foot of the bed before hiding under the covers.

What is wrong with me?  Jesus Christ.  She lay there staring at the pillow and listening to Mel move around the room and finally onto the bed.  Once again she wrapped her arms around Sara and held her.  She didn’t even try to say anything, just held her, and stroked her hair comfortingly.  It was a good thing though.  Sara wasn’t sure what she’d have done if Mel had tried to make a conversation.  She probably would have cried.  She didn’t want to cry, she thought she’d cried enough for a week already, there was no use doing so anymore.  She settled on sleeping, it didn’t involve tears.